For the first time in a month, seven days passed without the reported additional death of a Carroll County resident from complications related to COVID-19.
A report issued Friday, Aug. 12, by the Arkansas Department of Health again listed 109 deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus in Carroll County since the pandemic began, along with 66 active cases, half the number reported on Aug. 5.
Statewide, the number of deaths increased by 67 in seven days, rising to 11,812, with 11,790 reported active cases.
On July 8, the ADH reported 112 active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County, the first time in months the number of active cases had topped 100.
On Aug. 12, the state health department reported an increase of 7,343 new cases in Arkansas, including 41 in Carroll County — with both numbers showing decreases from the previous seven-day totals. Since April 4, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas has increased by 82,605.
The overall case count in Carroll County increased to 6,696 since the pandemic began, along with 6,521 “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. Statewide, the number of confirmed cases now stands at 915,733 with 891,980 recoveries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated Carroll County’s community transmission level in its weekly report at “low,” with a case rate of 126.85 per 100,000 — down from 176.18 — with new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 at 8.6 and 2.9 percent of staffed, inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19, both of which are up from the previous week.
On Aug. 12, the state health department reported 315 COVID-positive hospital admissions, with 59 in intensive care. Of those, 17 required the aid of a ventilator.
On Aug.5, the number of hospitalizations was 404, with 66 in intensive care and 19 on a ventilator.
Since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in Arkansas have included 1,475 children under the age of 18 including 176 who had been in intensive care.
On Aug. 12, the state health department reported 1,970 active cases among children — down from the 2,221 reportedAug. 5 — more than 16.7 percent of the statewide total.
The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 2,418, followed by those 25-34 with 1,735 and those 55-64 with 1,564, all of which are down slightly since Aug. 5. The 35-44 age group is close behind with 1,562 reported active cases.
Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 342,591, with the majority of those occurring among unvaccinated individuals. The number of active cases in Arkansas this year peaked on Jan. 21, when 102,576 were reported.
On the vaccination front, the state health department reported Aug. 12 the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older who are fully vaccinated had increased by 2,150 to 1,654,758 — a total of 146,719 since Jan. 1 — with another 288,346 listed as partially vaccinated and 812,611 listed as having received a thirddose booster.
Combined, those numbers represent approximately 68.3 percent of Arkansans aged 5 and older.
Countywide, the state health department reported 29,783 doses of the various vaccines had been administered by Jan. 1. As of Aug. 12, that number had increased to a reported 36,162 doses.
Approximately 54.2 percent of Carroll County residents aged 5 and older have been fully immunized and another 7.3 percent are partially immunized. Combined, those numbers represent approximately 61.5 percent of the county’s population that is eligible to receive a vaccine.
